#Balikbayan

[temporalhiccup]

⛅️

🌤️Share your favorite mechanic from a game you’re working on.

In my on going war against Setting Elements in Belonging Outside Belonging (I'm half-joking!), I've been experimenting with unlockable and growing sections of the City in BALIKBAYAN: Returning Home. Here are two (out of eight) parts of the City you can work towards accessing: the Market and the Sensorium. The group tailors the leader, aesthetics, and threats to their liking.

In the Cyberpunk genre the city always feels like an important character. Also, unlocking components of the game that everyone can enjoy in a BoB game is one of my fave design things to do now. The Unlockable sections here are the Market Contacts and the Hidden Power, and you unlock Moves within that part of the City that any player can lean into as they like. It's worked out really well in playtests so far (and I have more about how to unlock the more magical/supernatural aspects of the City).

[rayjideguia]

On October 11, 2014, Jennifer Laude, a Filipino trans woman, was killed by US Marine Joseph Scott Pemberton, whose presence in Zambales was made possible by the Visiting Forces Agreement. 

In September 2020, then President Rodrigo Duterte, known for his misogyny and whose regime was marked by extrajudicial killings from his drug war and anti-communist crusade, granted Pemberton absolute pardon, cutting short his time served by four years. Months prior in the same year, during the height of the pandemic, the Congress railroaded the passing of the anti-terrorism bill amidst rampant red-tagging of activists and dissidents; LGBTQIA+ protesters were arrested, detained, and harassed by police. 

Under the current President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., the largest Balikatan Exercise took place in 2023, a military exercise that was bolstered by counterterrorism training since the War on Terror campaign by the US. His father, former President Ferdinand Marcos Sr., serving as the blueprint of violence and repression for Duterte, formalized the export of Filipino labor through the 1974 Labor Code in an attempt to stimulate the struggling economy, resulting in the human trafficking of Filipinos to this day.

This is the political milieu that informs the narrative of “Balikbayan. Through the protagonist Stella, a trans woman, whose motivation is to find her missing sister Katrina, supposedly teaching in Texas but ended up as a victim of tokhang in the Philippines eleven years later, the play tackles the entanglements of the US War on Drugs and Terror, neoliberalism, and extrajudicial killings under the Duterte regime, and how women, both trans and cis, are subjugated and dehumanized by the same system.

Like our page and save the date! 

April 13, 2024, 7 PM @ IGB Gallery, UP Diliman 

#Balikbayan #Balikbayan2024

[open-hearth-rpg]

#RPGCovers Week Thirteen BALIKBAYAN: Returning Home Rae Nedjadi

I was super jazzed last week when I saw a Tumblr post from Rae Nedjadi going over his TTRPG Projects on the table- and where they were at. In great part that was because I saw BALIKBAYAN listed among the games in “different forms of active.” I love the concept of the game, enslaved elementals in a cyberpunk world escaping to fight back against The Corp which has exploited you and your people. 

It’s a Belonging Outside Belonging ttrpg with a) some of the absolutely best pick lists for creating the world and b) some of the most striking and amazing playbooks for characters and beyond. 

I also adore this cover. The mix of colors here is so smart: both complementary and clashing. I am a sucker for distressed logos and so the title font at the center is absolutely my jam. I love the way the yellow backlash borders look like warning tape. There’s a great detail in how the neon characters in the background bleed upwards from the “BA” there. 

The figure in the center is striking, precisely because they aren’t looking out at the viewer. They look down: in worry? in exhaustion? in contemplation? It makes what otherwise might be an ordinary cyberpunk photo image into something more. There’s the additional detail of one hand reaching up to touch the side of their mask. I don’t know why, but it feels like a vulnerable gesture. 

Then there’s the whole background layer– with a blown out neon cloud at the top. But more importantly the two vertical titles on either side of the page. Through them you can almost see another world. As your eyes come down the page the elements become more mixed up and harder to separate. That ends in a complementary blow out of color in the bottom right.

[cennettendusenbalik]

Bazen bilmemekte önemli, bilinceye kadar her şey güzeldir çünkü.

[art-chap-enjoin]

70-2301 - Tins of beans

Each Christmas my sister-in-law sends a balikbayan box to the Philippines, with goodies for all the family. Balikbayan boxe literally means repatriate box – Filipinos use them to send gift items back home from overseas – often non-perishable food items, toiletries or things that are difficult to buy in the Philippines. For us that usually means tins of mixed beans, dried fruits, and different…

[lourace20]

As of now, the number of OFW’s keeps rising and so, I decided to create a blog that could possibly help new OFW’s be informed. I chose the campaign, STOP Philippine Customs to Impose Tighter Rules for Balikbayan Boxes. It is all about the imposition of the Bureau of Customs of tighter rules and additional tax to balikbayan boxes as well as the inspection of boxes without the owner’s permission.

This imposition of the Bureau of Customs became a stir and led to multiple complaint and petitions. Kris Ann Sandoval commented in the petition, “the authorities doesn't have the rights to open that without our permissions” in which I agree, because those boxes are the workers’ personal property. Moreover, even if they say that it is for security purposes, there is no guarantee that the products inside the boxes would still be complete or still be in the same state after the inspection. “Panibagong korapsiyon nanaman” said many, “If smuggling is the concern, implement a systematic way of input to balikbayan boxes to make it possible to see through the scanners, what the products are, and how many.” Stephanie Banaag added. I strongly oppose this new rule of Bureau of Customs because this will only give burden to the OFW’s. That’s why I’m very much pleased when I read that arbitrary inspection of balikbayan boxes stopped .

Many people signed this petition making it confirmed victory. This petition has 85,957 supporters including Miriam Defensor Santiago. This petition paved the way for the Senate Resolution No. 1534 which was filed by Miriam Defensor Santiago herself.

In just a few steps those ordinary people who signed made a difference. This would not have been possible if those 85,957 didn’t worked together. Look how working hand-in-hand can make a difference. Change can be accomplished more effectively and efficiently when people work together towards a common goal.

EVERY SIGN COUNTS!

[carlocarrasco]

Philippines eyes high-spending tourists from America

As part of its pursuit to attract more foreign tourists and generate higher tourism revenue this year (click here and here), the Philippines is targeting tourists from the United States with the perception that they are heavy spending tourists, according to a Philippine News Agency (PNA) news article. To put things in perspective, posted below is an excerpt from the PNA news article. Some parts…

[ikiprian]

filipino friends, what should i get to pack in a balikbayan?? i’ve never packed one myself— my parents did it when i was little, and i can’t remember what they did!!

[wickedzeevyln]

Kailyan

[marlo-noni]

Thank you to the 99% Invisible podcast for teaching me what balikbayan boxes are. I recognized that my local grocery store is having a balikbayan promotion right now!

[rayjideguia]

my short story, "balikbayan", is now out in likhaan journal volume 17! it tackles the entanglements of the US war on drugs and terror, neoliberalism, and extrajudicial killings under duterte, written in largely multilingual english via chismis and beki. my friend and colleague may cardoso is in the process of adapting this for the stage 🎭

it's been a while since i had fiction out, so this is really important for me. you can access it online here.

[jihnih]

I was late for the golden hour doing whatnots but the scene is still a wow. On my 71th day in the Philippines, I stayed in Manila for 3D2N with the aim to see the golden hour on the 1st day but instead, I had a good long walk at Roxas boulevard with a good company. The last time I saw this part of Manila was 16 years ago, I believe I was im college. 6 years working in production companies and 10 years abroad. Indeed, the only constant thing in this world is change. #wheninasia #manila #roxasboulevard #wheninPinas #whenlifegivesyoulemons #balikbayan #JiniStyle #momentlens #phonetography #sunset #beach (at Roxas Boulevard) https://www.instagram.com/p/Cp7gO3CSy3C/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[cennettendusenbalik]

Sen benim hoşuma giden galaksi..

[gandaever]

Welcome home, #BalikBayan Evelyn Abueva! Thank you for tagging along the three #HotMommas! What a fun lunch it was! (at Alfonso's Café) https://www.instagram.com/p/Co8UfKfBEbq/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[bellestar66]

one week back here in 🇨🇦 and missin’ the motherland 🇵🇭 already 😩 i’ve gone back and forth many times for a decade and a half but this vacation hit different. maybe it was the two long years of being away, and being away this far, amid so many changes in our lives in between. every second of my time back home—being present with my loves and eating everything i’ve been craving for— was just pure joy. truly thankful for the blessings i’ve been given which made this trip possible. with my heart filled with all these wonderful memories, i head back to a more grounded reality, filled with the possibilities of a brand new year. i won’t and can’t say i’m ready, but as i look forward to my next time back home, i am filled with hope and faith in whatever it is that will be 🙌🏼 #latergram #holidaze #itsmorefuninthephilippines #ofwblues #balikbayan #memories (at Metro Manila) https://www.instagram.com/p/CoAVzKRuMAjAMalmkNP1_OKowsreW-Dy29mxkU0/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=